Archie looked out the window when he heard the squeal of breaks on the street. He saw a motorcycle parked in front of the house next door and sighed. He knew that bike.

"Hey, Betts, have you talked to Jug lately?" Archie looked towards the desk where Betty was working on her latest story for the Greendale Gazette.

"Uh, no," Betty looked up in confusion, "I haven't talked to Jughead since high school graduation, remember."

"And you said he doesn't come back to Riverdale a lot, right?"

"No, never, FP and JB go to him," Betty went to join him at the window, "Apparently that's changed."

Jughead disappeared into the Smith-Jones house for only a few minutes before he burst from the front door and charged with a full head of steam towards Archie's front door. Archie didn't even wait for him to knock. He simply opened the door when he heard Jughead's boots stomping up the steps.

"Is Betty here?" were the first words out of Jughead's mouth.

"Uh, hey to you too, Jug," Archie replied, "And yes, she's in the office, working."

Jughead maneuvered around his best friend to get to Betty. He glanced at her up and down before asking, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," Betty said, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to make sure you're okay," Jughead said.

"Why-" Betty stopped and sighed, "Jug, I love JB, but she has a big mouth."

"What in the hell happened?" Jughead asked, "Who hurt you?"

"My ex," Betty sighed heavily, "He's...a jerk."

"How in the hell could you let someone hurt you?" Jughead snapped at her.

"Hey," Archie stepped in, "Don't even think of blaming Betty. She is the victim. She deserves our support. If for one second you blame her for any of what she went through, I'm kicking you out my house, best friend or not."

"You knew about this?"

"He didn't know until I showed up on his doorstep a couple of months before graduation," Betty said. "I tried to leave, and he wouldn't let me."

"Does Alice know?"

"Your dad made me tell her after I told him and Sheriff Keller. It was a straight trade. They wouldn't kill him as long as I told her," Betty admitted.

"Who is this guy?" Jughead asked, "I'll need a decent description so I don't kill the wrong guy."

"No, you're not going anywhere near the guy," Betty went to get into his face, "Sheriff Keller put in a call to the FBI. They're doing what they can to help out as Louis has pulled a Houdini after showing up at Archie's doorstep a week ago. I don't want anyone anywhere near him or anyone associated with him. You are not going to get mixed up in his crap."

"Wait, what?" Jughead looked utterly lost.

"Louis's family is really tight with Hiram Lodge. Actually, Louis's father makes Hiram Lodge look like a boy scout," Betty explained.

"And you dated this guy, after everything we went through with Hiram?" Jughead asked.

"I didn't know at first," Betty's eyes cast to the floor.

Archie got between them, "Enough, Jug. She doesn't need to be berated. She beats herself up enough."

Jughead took a look at his ex and nodded, seeing the distraught look on her face, "I'm sorry. You're okay and that's what matters."

"Yeah, thanks," Betty looked despondent.

Archie didn't think twice about taking her into his arms to offer her comfort.

Jughead was taken aback by the level of comfort the pair were displaying. "Wait, are you two together?"

Archie looked down at Betty and then at Jughead, "Yeah, we are."

"Wow," Jughead was visibly taken aback by the revelation, "Uh, okay."

"Jug," Betty started.

"It's fine, Betts," the darker boy said, "I guess I never thought it would happen after what went down the last few weeks of high school."

"What does that mean?" Archie asked.

"I guess I thought after everything we were all going out of our way to avoid each other forever."

"I did," Betty said, "I didn't even say hi when I went to his boxing match."

"What?" Jughead asked. He was more than a little surprised to learn that she'd gone to Archie's competition and not said anything to anyone. She'd never gone out of her way to avoid his family, and they were in attendance. She would have been welcome with open arms, but that may have been the problem. She never wanted to force their families to choose. "You were there?"

Betty bobbed her head.

"You didn't say anything," Jughead frowned.

"I just wanted to see the event. I didn't want to be a distraction," she explained.

Jughead just looked at her in bewilderment.

"When I was scared and wanted to feel safe, he was the first person I thought of even after all this time. All that stuff we went through at the end of school just seems like a lifetime ago," Betty said, "For the first time in four years, you and Veronica were nowhere near my thoughts when I thought of Archie."

"I'm not sure if I should feel offended by that," Jughead frowned.

"Look, Jug, you and I were always going in a different direction," Betty grasped his hand, "I did love you, but we both knew we had grown apart."

"Yeah," Jughead sighed.

"Arch and I didn't plan to get together," Betty replied, "It just sort of happened organically, slowly at first until we just couldn't ignore each other or our feelings anymore. In a lot of ways, I'm not ready for this, but what Archie and I have is really good, healthy even."

Jughead looked at the man who'd been his friend most of his life and then back at Betty, "Can he and I have a minute?"

Betty nodded, "I'll be in the garage. If you make each other bleed, you're paying for the carpet cleaning."

Archie smirked as Betty left before he made eye contact with Jughead.

"Why couldn't you have figured out that you wanted her sophomore year?" Jughead asked.

"Because I'm an idiot," Archie shrugged, "I didn't deserve her back then. Hell, I still don't deserve her, but we're both in better places now than we once were. I'm not entangled with Miss Grundy or the Lodges. She's out from the hell of her father's making, and we're untangling her from Louis. We've both been given fresh starts. We're college graduates starting our new careers."

"With a spanking new relationship to boot," Jughead added sarcastically.

"It was a jerk thing to do and not tell you, but then we'd have to tell you the circumstances of how it all started. She didn't want that," Archie explained, "Right now, her wellbeing is the most important thing."

"I agree there," Jughead conceded, "I'm not sure how I feel about this."

"I'm not asking for your blessing," Archie replied, "You have no claim on her."

"What about all that went down senior year?" Jughead challenged him.

"I thought we were past all of that," Archie frowned.

"Past it might be a stretch," Jughead shrugged, "Buried down deep maybe."

"I guess you're going to have to decide if you can get past it then," Archie shrugged himself, "You're one of my best friends, Jug, but that's not going to change what's happening between me and Betty."

"I can't deal with this right now," Jughead replied, "I came here to make sure Betty's okay. She is, so all is good. The rest I just need to process."

"That's fair," Archie replied, "You know where to find us when you're ready to talk."

Jughead left and Archie went to find Betty. She had a tool in her hands and was tinkering away at his old jalopy.

She didn't even turn when he entered. She just asked, "When was the last time you took this for a drive?"

"It's been awhile," he admitted, "Uncle Frank would take it for a spin every couple of weeks while I was gone to make sure it didn't get corroded or anything."

Betty smiled at that.

"Want to take it for a ride?" he asked.

"Maybe a bit later," she smiled, "I'd rather tinker for a bit. I haven't done that in so long."

"Another thing Louis didn't like you doing?" Archie asked.

"It was a long list," she frowned.

"Come here," he pulled her into his arms.

Betty wrapped her arms around his torso, soaking in all the love and support Archie was offering. Emotions from her turbulent relationship would hit her hard at times. "Why did I stay with him so long, Archie?"

"I wish I had an answer for you," he rubbed circles into her back, "All that matters is you're away from him now."

"Is it wrong that I think it might be because of my parents' relationship?" she asked.

"How so?" Archie kissed her forehead and pulled away a bit to look into her eyes.

"Outwardly my parents would put out this image that things were perfect. Obviously, that was far from true considering my father turned out to be a serial killer, but there were other things…times my mom just seemed to shrink in the relationship, concede to things my father demanded of her. Part of me just thought that's how adult relationships work," Betty explained, "My mom played a part because she didn't want to go back to her Southside roots."

"And what didn't you want to go back to?" Archie asked.

"Being the daughter of the Black Hood," she admitted.

"Did Louis know about your father?" Archie tenderly caressed her cheek.

"Yeah, I told him fairly early in our relationship. He was obviously surprised at first, but then he made it seem like he was okay with it. He would even joke about it, or at least at first it felt like a joke. Eventually the jokes seemed to cut harder, and there was a meanness to them. Looking back, I wonder if that wasn't the start of where things went wrong," she admitted, "Or maybe it was even before that. I don't even know anymore."

"It's not important," Archie assured her.

"When Jug got on me for staying so long and for allowing someone to hurt me…" Archie heard the turmoil in her voice.

"He was wrong to say anything," Archie stated, "He wasn't there."

"He was a good boyfriend," Betty replied, "Yeah, he was rough around the edges, but he treated me well. How could I go from that to Louis?"

"Betty, stop," Archie whispered, "Looking back, trying to figure out where things went wrong, none of that is going to change what happened. You'll only make yourself feel worse. You're away from him now."

"He's going to go ballistic when the restraining order papers are served, if they haven't been already," Betty replied.

"Mom hasn't said anything about them being filed with the court yet," Archie stated.

Betty broke free from his embrace and went back to the jalopy. She grabbed a different tool from the workbench and went back to her tinkering.

"I've got some paperwork to do, but how about a joy ride later," Archie stepped behind her, caressing her shoulder tenderly.

"Yeah, I'd like that," she turned to offer him a smile.

He leaned in for a quick kiss and then went into the house. Betty sighed heavily. How she'd gone from Jughead to Louis and now to Archie was beyond her. Archie was so patient, always taking time to talk her up, rebuild her confidence, and there were days where she felt like her old self. Today was not one of those days. She appreciated Archie leaving her to her thoughts but also knowing that it would do her no good to stew all day.

Archie hadn't told Betty anything about where they were going for their drive, so she chose a gauzy red top and a pair of white cotton capris. She was just pulling up her hair in a ponytail when she heard the doorbell ring. "Arch, can you get that?" she hollered out, only to be met by silence and the another peal of the doorbell.

She rushed down the stairs to open the door. Archie was on the other side holding a bouquet of flowers.

"What are you doing, crazy man?" she shook her head at the ridiculousness of his actions, yet she was smiling as wide as he'd ever remember.

"Picking you up for our drive," he leaned in for a kiss at the threshold to the front door.

"What happened to keeping things quiet in Riverdale?" she leaned a bit firmer against him. She was very aware that their neighbors could possibly see them if anyone happened by.

"Hard to remember our reasons with you looking so incredible," he gave her an appreciative glance up and down.

"You're being such a dork right now," she laughed as she took the flowers from his hands.

"Hopefully in the best of ways," he chuckled.

"Definitely," she went into the kitchen to put the flowers in water.

"Ready to ride?" he waved the keys to the jalopy at her.

"Ready to drive," she snatched them out of his hand before he could react.

"Even better," he guided her to the garage where the vehicle was waiting with a few surprises in the backseat.

After climbing into the driver's seat, she revved the engine to life. "Man, this thing still purrs like a kitten. Where to?"

"Wherever you want to go," he smiled.

Betty threw the car into gear and away they went. They road for miles and miles, just enjoying the scenery and the wind in their hair. Betty's smile was hard to ignore.

"Turn in there," Archie pointed to a barely used park which was completely secluded.

After climbing out of the vehicle, Betty was surprised to see Archie pulling out a basket and blanket from the back.

"Are we having a picnic?" she took the blanket from his hands.

"I was hoping for a bit more than a picnic," he motioned towards the recently setup fire pit.

"What did you do?" she smiled as he led her towards it.

"Trade secret," he smiled as he pulled out collapsible roasting forks and hot dogs.

Betty gave him an eager smile. They used to have impromptu cookouts all the time as kids, usually in one of their backyards, but as they got older, they ventured further from home.

"This reminds me of the campout with your teammates," Betty smiled as Archie started the fire, "That was a lot of fun."

"Yeah," he agreed.

"Where the campouts all like that?" Betty asked.

"For the most part," he bobbed his head, "It was the first time I brought anyone with me."

"Julie said you didn't bring dates to a lot of the team functions," Betty replied.

"I wasn't a monk in college, but I wasn't a cad either," he replied, "I really wanted to focus on my studies and boxing. My dad always wanted me to get a good education and boxing was my way to accomplish that. I wanted to make him proud."

"He is proud of you, Arch," Betty touched his knee, "I know without a doubt that he's watching over you with a big smile."

"I hope so," he smiled as he pushed the logs around the pit a bit with a long stick, more for something else to focus on than the emotions stirred by thoughts of his father.

"Let's get roasting," she replied, "I'm getting hungry."

Pulling out the hot dogs, they were ready to eat in no time.

"We needed this," Betty spoke in between bites, "It feels like we're hiding away in your house."

"I know what you mean," he agreed.

"I just wish we could know that the restraining order is going to do what is intended, and he'll just leave me alone. Then we could be open about our relationship," she frowned.

"Maybe we just need to put it out in the open," he offered, "We can't live in a holding pattern forever."

"But if he finds out, it's going to make him that much angrier," she sighed.

"How about a compromise," he suggested, "We give it to Halloween. If he doesn't crawl out of his cave by then, we'll out ourselves."

"I can live with that," she leaned in for a kiss, "Confession?"

He bobbed his head to encourage her to continue on.

"I'm really enjoying these clandestine moments with you," she smiled as she kissed him again.

"Me too," he smiled against her lips before he deepened the kiss.

"Thank you for all of this," she motioned to their surroundings. "I needed a distraction."

"I know," he tugged at her ponytail affectionately. She didn't wear them often anymore, but she'd brought it back for the drive. "I missed this."

"I did too," she laughed, "It's so much less work than fussing with my hair day after day. Why ever did I abandon it?"

"Another Louis decision?" he asked.

"No," she shook her head, "That was my choice all the way."

"Up, down, I like it both ways," he told her.

"Thank you," she shifted on the blanket so she was snuggled into him. "Did you bring marshmallows?"

"Did I bring marshmallows?" Archie almost sounded offended that he could forget something so important. He reached into the basket and pulled out marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers.

Betty immediately went to task, roasting marshmallow after marshmallow. She liked them plain without the graham crackers and chocolate, but they also shared a couple of s'mores in between sticking kisses.

They stayed in their spot until the fire died out. Archie made sure to douse the fire with a bucket of water and then they drove home to curl up on the sofa together to watch a movie. It felt like the greatest ending to a day full of emotion.

TBC...